Spike Milligan's funny acceptance speech for his lifetime achievement award at the British Comedy Awards 1994. He refers to the Prince of Wales as a grovelling bastard.
@@ya00007 They shared the same sense of humour. The then Prince Charles was a huge fan of Spikes, he would have laughed his socks off at Spikes comment and Spike new it. They were actually good friends.
"yes. but i didn't mean to. It was that, or stand around walking in weird patterns the Army like to call Marching.. and yes i did serve my time.. for a thousand crimes i never committed it seems"
"yes. but i didn't mean to. It was that, or stand around walking in weird patterns the Army like to call Marching.. and yes i did serve my time.. for a thousand crimes i never committed it seems" I made that up. but it seems like something Spike would say. :)
The great things he enjoyed were Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe et all bursting into his house and MAKING him cheer up. PTSD was an misunderstood condition. Brave Brave Man
Spike got me in trouble. I was skiving off at work, hiding in a railway guards van reading one of his books. I was laughing so hard my boss found out where I was. No regrets..it was worth the bollicking I got. I'm 63 years old now and I still have that book. Spike will be with me until I die.
I think the reason this also works so well, is because prior to delivering that line, he’s acting slightly doddery - he admitted afterwards he’d already had 2 bottles in- he’s paying sort’ve scant attention to the proceedings, so there’s a kind of sympathy for his age pervading - and then he delivers this absolute razor sharp line, with perfect timing and tone, that you are shocked into joy by both the irreverence of what he says and the fact that he’s still got it. Absolute classic!
It’s funny how Jonathan gave up the speech from the folder, cut it short and just encouraged one final round of applause. I think he knew that Spike’s humour was irrepressible.
I was going to comment on that. Jonathan's a total professional and knew reading the rest of the speech was only going to take the shine off that first joke so rather let it rest in the room with them for a bit longer.
I met him at a book-signing, I was nervous, he made fun of my name; he was very physically feeble, except in his eyes. I have been an atheist since I was about 9 years old, but I cried after meeting Spike like a believer would after encountering a Saint.
"I'm not going to thank anybody, because I did it all on my own!" Surely the greatest moment in all awards ceremonies. An entire industry overwhelmed with laughter and love. RIP Spike.
kisbie As I said - he was joking. He wasn't trying to belittle anybody and there was certainly no malice. You need to understand the wider context before opening your mouth in future.
It's in Irish, which is: "Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite" . The church would not let it be engraved in English, so as a compromise it was translated into Irish
Spike’s war stories are soooo funny and yet you feel the sadness and pain at the same time. Anyone who hasn’t read them needs to to really know what this chap was all about.
@@TallSilentGuy You don't get trees on boats! It may actually be more nuanced, as shipwreck cartoons often feature a person sitting under a single palm tree on an unsuitably small desert island.
The reason it's funny is because everyone is supposed to respect the royal family and hold them in high esteem, and yet here we see someone completely turning that on it's head and mocking one of the most well-respected figureheads of the British Empire.
Absolutely, absolutely Smoog, and the main difference was that laughter by those comedians who they themselves had done their time 'dying' on stage and more so than us know how hard, brave, quick thinking to come up with a line that has not been rehearsed and canned laughter used - cause not just for them to laugh BUT laugh with PURE JOY.I truly hope as with your comment three years ago and mine in 2023 that for many years people will comment as I have done to you, thus showing how good he was.
@@AdrianColley Rik Mayall isn’t in this clip. Jonathan Ross, Ben Elton, Ian Hislop, Michael Barrymore, Rory Bremner, Mel Smith and a couple more but no Rik Mayall.
And every line out of his mouth was a brilliant, spontaneous, unscripted rib-tickler! What a wit! What a nut! A knighthood would not be good enough. Lord Spike!!!
It is exactly that type of comments i hate about youtube. Writing random shit that pops up in your head and trying to pass it along as something clever.
I saw spike in a small theatre here in Perth Australia He walked out on stage sat on a chair and had everybody laughing for 2 hours It was unbelievable what a genius of comedy
I can watch this again and again. That nanosecond of shock before they all erupt is priceless. A true genius who died the same day as my dad. I can hear them laughing now.
Only Spike could have gotten away with this bless him and he will always be a national treasure that made us all laugh out loud back in the day. He will never ever be forgotten.
Sad but his type of comedy and humour has been consigned to the ‘warning this may cause offence to some listeners’ or ‘this episode was recorded in 1968 when guidelines were different and so may contain language that some listeners or viewers may find offensive’. Woke o’clock for modern comedy or die at the hands of the mental left, or the nazi right. You can’t win ☺️
Ahhhh, I miss you Spike! Absolute legend, my sides are still hurting years later! Only Spike could call a future king a grovelling bastard and bring the house down!🤣🤣🤣
I love how just as everybody is starting to get over it they realize how funny it was again and go back into hysterics. It's an impossible level of comedy. It's transcendental.
Spike Milligan was one of comedies masters who knew how to say things with no fears, we need people like him back in our lives! I've got tears literally running down my face through laughing.. Thank you Spike and God rest your beautiful soul x
I remember watching this live. It was one of the funniest things I'd ever seen and still is. Spike Milligan was the funniest person who ever lived and nobody will ever come close to him.
@welcome welcome you're one sick puppy. Bitch if you're lucky to be around at mid life I bet comedy will be outright banned as will all free thought and speech. Or else it'll be a bunch of sour cancel culture bastards like you that got hurt feelings.
People throw the word iconic around a lot but not only was Spike an absolute comedy icon, the true genius of modern comedy, but calling the heir to the throne 'that little grovelling bastard' has to be the most iconic roast moment of all time. The sheer audacity is what cracked a room full of his peers up.
This is true, but he had Prince Charles, God Bless Him, laughing in the aisles! The Prince was convulsing with laughter! What else could he do? The Prince was a true gentleman, and he played the game!
indeed... have seen this many times...not for a year or two now and im wiping away tears of laughter as i type ... fucking outstanding ! we all have to go sometime, spike went a little too soon but even his epitaph is a giggle :)
'Grovelling bastard...' Right there is the old relationship of the court jester battering the king over the head with his pig's bladder; remember, thou art only mortal.... Everyone who wields power in this day and age should have their own jester at their elbow to keep them humble!
Spike Milligan sent a message to the Prince Of Wales afterwards going "I suppose a Knighthoods out of the question then?" EDIT: Typed on 11.09.2022 and now The Little Grovelling Bastard is now King Charles III. Lol.
I heard about that, and for a while I was afraid that the Prince would die of laughter before Spike did. Fortunately, he did not, but it was probably a close call...
I crossed the Spike Milligan Bridge in Woy Woy, NewSouth Wales on my bike a few weeks ago. Woy Woy's most famous son described Woy Woy as the only place where they bury the dead above the ground. They still built him a bridge. How could you not love that man?
"Im not going to thank anyone coz I did it all on my own" How Fuckin Comic genius are those words, had me in tears as a teenager during the late 70,s early 80,s Gone but never forgotten RIP Spike
Watched this time and again and it always reduces me to tears of laughter.. Spike was truly a natural genius and desperately funny .. RIP Spike .. you left this world a happier place 😅
Spike said afterwards that by that time of the evening he had finished two bottles of wine as, having not worked on TV in ten years, he wasn't expecting anything more than a night out and a free meal.
40 seconds of uncontrollable laughter by everyone and every single time I watch this, it has the same effect. Just 1 simple line did that. True master at work. I have to watch his works. So many great great comics that I love admire this guy. Robin Williams, Craig Ferguson, The entire Monty Pythons, Dylan Moran, Sean Lock and many many more all loves Spike and credits him as a major influence in their comedy.
@@stuartjenkins3039 I lived 18yrs in the US. My American wife and my US-born English daughter have been back here for 17yrs. I/we agree with both you and AK.
I have to be for ever thankfull to Spike Milligan for putting my home town on the map of world literature. In his war memories, he mentions the place: "Krumpendorf, that famous disease of the groins..."
It´s hard to catch because of the laughter but it just might have been ".......these are a series of cliches, you idiot." If I´m wrong, I stand corrected. In any case, pure genius. Thank you!
Said Hamlet to Ophelia, "I'll draw a sketch of thee. What type of pencil should I use... 2B or not 2B?" Spike virtually raised me in my childhood even though we only met once when I was 18 in 1983. He signed my copy of "Unspun Socks from a Chicken's Laundry" and I wouldn't part with it for the world!
What Make this Even More Funny is that, the Following day, He Called Prince Charles and Said "I Take it a Knighthood is out of the quetion" to which Prince Charles replied "Your going to have to do a Little more Groveling"
I once met Spike in the toilet of a London restaurant. I'd spotted him earlier at another table. It was in the middle of a heatwave. He came in as I was minding my own business, looked at me and said "I'm not coming to this bloody restaurant again. Too damned hot!" OK. Not funny in itself, but to hear him deliver it in the way only he could made it hilarious. If I hadn't already been mid-pee, I would have pissed myself.
This has to be one of the greatest moments at an award show, and still his brand of humour could reduce an audience to hysterical laughter, is an example of how much a comical genius Spike Milligan was, to cut in with such a bold retort as this towards the future King of England would make me laugh any time i see it, You were an absolute legend Spike, R.I.P to a great man
The follow up to this is the following day Spike wrote to Prince Charles, all his letter said was "I supose a knighthoods out of the question now?" Charles wrote back simply saying "Keep Groveling"
The reason this works so perfectly is because we know that if the Prince of Wales were there in person, he would be laughing the loudest, and even possibly coming back with a sharp riposte. Spike picked his targets rather than simply spray bile in all directions, which is only part of why he is such a great loss to us all.
It is hard to imagine how much society has changed from that before the Wars; calling the monarch a "grovelling bastard" still cuts against the grain, we still have a respect for our 'betters', however grudgingly, we feel we should grovel to them in some way. But now we laugh at that sense of discomfort as much as at the joke; a joke which only one of Shakespeare's court jesters could have got away with before. Alas, poor Yorick
David McCormick "But wit is sword; it is meant to make people feel the point as well as see it." [G.K.Chesterton] Parisian tunnel? Ouch! The spirit of Milligan lives.
Saw him do a one-man show at St David's Hall in Cardiff a few years ago, sat on the side above he came out. For some reason the sound was crap and afterwards they were giving refunds. I declined. I was just happy to be in the same room as my comic hero. Afterwards he signed some of his books and I got to shake his hand. Have to stop typing know as I'm filling up. Legend.
Man when English comedy ruled they were the funniest of times and im an Aussie who can't get enough of this comedy great, and see what a awesome standing ovation given out of respect.
I'm only 26, but over the years i have watched a lot of Spikes tv stuff and even listened to the goon show with my grandfather (who is a huge Spike fan)while we were driving somewhere and it's some of the funniest stuff i have seen and heard in my life. We will never get comedy of that calibre ever again. Old comedy is the best comedy.
The man, the myth, the legend - Spike Milligan. The funniest bit of all about that comment is that Spike and the Prince of Wales were very close friends for many years. Often imitated, but never, ever duplicated. 2:40 LOL
The likes of which we’ll never see again - thank God, the wishy-washy PC brigade weren’t that prevalent during the 60’s & 70s - the man is an absolute lifetime legend - RIP Spike x
One of the very few genuine comedy geniuses the world has ever produced. Spike was the originator, the master of the absurd, the word Genius is not sufficient to honour his Brilliance, or to do him justice.
As someone who is half-Irish and half-English, and considers himself both,I am glad that an Irishman makes you proud to be British. Milligan did refuse to swear an oath of allegience to the crown.
Spike became the first person since Beau Brummel to voice such spontaneous discourtesy to a member of the Royal Family. As with anyone with individual flair and talent, Spike was not spurned by anyone with appreciation for his amazing gifts.
Utter genius, my favourite comedian ever, all the trauma he saw & suffered himself, more often than not made his humour even more astounding, dogged by serious bouts of dark depression, locking himself away in his room for weeks at a time, I think his headstone says "I told you I was ill", he really was a complete one off, never see the likes of him again
I love that Milligan is laughing at it too. Can you imagine if he'd just listened to it? How pompous everything would have been. It would have been a betrayal of everything he'd ever done. That line is exactly what Spike Milligan would say in that situation, and he did.
I heard that, after this, Spike wrote to Charles and said "I guess a knighthood is out of the question" to which Charles replied "keep grovelling"
@@ya00007 That's why it's funny.
@@ya00007 They shared the same sense of humour. The then Prince Charles was a huge fan of Spikes, he would have laughed his socks off at Spikes comment and Spike new it. They were actually good friends.
@@ya00007you totally misunderstood the joke, the point and the fact they were friends..
Touché. Nice touch by Prince Charles. He would have killed himself with laughter if he'd seen it! Cheers, Spike! 🙏😂🙏😂
@@ya00007 You do know that they where friends?
"I got off the train at Bexhill on Sea, which was difficult, the train didn't stop there." RIP Spike Milligan and thank you for your genius.
As promised , he had the inscription , ''I TOLD YOU I WAS ILL'', ON HIS HEADSTONE, But, I think the idiot church removed it?
😂
This man was a genius. He took the pain & suffering he experienced during WW2 and turned that around to bring humour to literally millions of people.
I've read his books over and over many times, they got me through a spate of bad depression so thankyou Spike.
A TRULY GREAT BRITAIN 💯
🆘🇬🇧🙏💪🎬🤩😍REST WITH THE BEST 😭🙏💪
EASY TO SEE WHY LONDON LOVE'S YOU ✌️🧐💪🤣☺️
"yes. but i didn't mean to. It was that, or stand around walking in weird patterns the Army like to call Marching.. and yes i did serve my time.. for a thousand crimes i never committed it seems"
"yes. but i didn't mean to. It was that, or stand around walking in weird patterns the Army like to call Marching.. and yes i did serve my time.. for a thousand crimes i never committed it seems"
I made that up. but it seems like something Spike would say. :)
The great things he enjoyed were Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe et all bursting into his house and MAKING him cheer up. PTSD was an misunderstood condition. Brave Brave Man
Spike got me in trouble. I was skiving off at work, hiding in a railway guards van reading one of his books. I was laughing so hard my boss found out where I was. No regrets..it was worth the bollicking I got. I'm 63 years old now and I still have that book. Spike will be with me until I die.
I cried with laughter listening to him read those books.
Bollocking. Not bollicking.
@@judeirwin2222 I bet you're a right laugh at a party.....
@@nelsonhibbert5267 It would be funnier if he had written ball -licking.😂😊
That rather depends on whether tongues were involved. Railway chaps are jolly fun like that. 😂
Probably the only person in the world to call the future king a "grovelling bastard," and get away with it.🤣
I think the reason this also works so well, is because prior to delivering that line, he’s acting slightly doddery - he admitted afterwards he’d already had 2 bottles in- he’s paying sort’ve scant attention to the proceedings, so there’s a kind of sympathy for his age pervading - and then he delivers this absolute razor sharp line, with perfect timing and tone, that you are shocked into joy by both the irreverence of what he says and the fact that he’s still got it. Absolute classic!
2 bottles of wine ?
@@brody5211 Liebfraumilch is what he said in a later interview!
"and then he delivers this absolute razor sharp line"..... could not agree with you more.
He had a brilliant mind
Greatest Acceptance Speech of All Time. Will never be beaten.
This will character you talk of, I seen him beaten last night!
Simply fav fav fab fab
He did a lot better than Will Smith.
You took the words out of my mouth,fantastic.
Just brilliant
It’s funny how Jonathan gave up the speech from the folder, cut it short and just encouraged one final round of applause. I think he knew that Spike’s humour was irrepressible.
I was going to comment on that. Jonathan's a total professional and knew reading the rest of the speech was only going to take the shine off that first joke so rather let it rest in the room with them for a bit longer.
@@leodaly2310 Not to mention likely knew that he'd never finish given Spike's personality.
Fearing King grovelling Little Bastard's wrath one day
The funniest person who ever lived and a truly wonderful human being. I miss Spike Milligan so much.
That's how you react to a future King's loving letter. Spike was a genius who it was a pleasure to meet shortly before he passed. RIP Spike.
I met him at a book-signing, I was nervous, he made fun of my name; he was very physically feeble, except in his eyes. I have been an atheist since I was about 9 years old, but I cried after meeting Spike like a believer would after encountering a Saint.
"I'm not going to thank anybody, because I did it all on my own!" Surely the greatest moment in all awards ceremonies. An entire industry overwhelmed with laughter and love. RIP Spike.
+kisbie It's a joke you idiot, you can tell he is actually emotional because he is crying! *smh*
kisbie Not sure what you mean?
+Jane Goodnut Just going to help you look for that plot you lost.
kisbie As I said - he was joking. He wasn't trying to belittle anybody and there was certainly no malice. You need to understand the wider context before opening your mouth in future.
+Jane Goodnut Oh you are trolling. I see you are having a 'pop' at everyone.
Someone has a very lonely life.
Even his tomb stone has the words ''I told you i was ill'...The man was, is, a legend. :)
It's in Irish, which is: "Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite" . The church would not let it be engraved in English, so as a compromise it was translated into Irish
7Earthsky ye IN IRISH
@@Irish780 nobody cares about your dumb language
@@A-small-amount-of-peas you are an idiot
@I am special NPC yes
Just about the only person who can get away with that line, a true legend of comedy never forgotten.
well said and very true.
The funniest man ever to walk the planet, a true comedy genius, RIP Spike.
I think you're forgetting the comic work of the inestimable Timmy Mallett
@@mikeboosh8776 🤣
Timmy who ?
Benny Hill?
Told you he was ill
Spike lee.
Spike’s war stories are soooo funny and yet you feel the sadness and pain at the same time. Anyone who hasn’t read them needs to to really know what this chap was all about.
'Best cure for seasickness...sit under a tree!' There will never be another Spike. Never forgotten, his humour lives on.
I don't get it.
@@TallSilentGuy You don't get trees on boats!
It may actually be more nuanced, as shipwreck cartoons often feature a person sitting under a single palm tree on an unsuitably small desert island.
@@TallSilentGuy I'm not surprised.
Remember watching this live. One of the most epic, jaw-dropping moments in the history of British TV.
The reason it's funny is because everyone is supposed to respect the royal family and hold them in high esteem, and yet here we see someone completely turning that on it's head and mocking one of the most well-respected figureheads of the British Empire.
Yes Spike would never become a 'Grooms of the Stool' like many of his obsequious
contemporaries who display it bucket loadat the RVP.
You know someone's funny when they can cause a room filled with the best comedians in Britain to howls of laughter with a single quip.
Absolutely, absolutely Smoog, and the main difference was that laughter by those comedians who they themselves had done their time 'dying' on stage and more so than us know how hard, brave, quick thinking to come up with a line that has not been rehearsed and canned laughter used - cause not just for them to laugh BUT laugh with PURE JOY.I truly hope as with your comment three years ago and mine in 2023 that for many years people will comment as I have done to you, thus showing how good he was.
You could see the frank admiration in Rik Mayall's eyes.
@@AdrianColley Rik Mayall isn’t in this clip.
Jonathan Ross, Ben Elton, Ian Hislop, Michael Barrymore, Rory Bremner, Mel Smith and a couple more but no Rik Mayall.
@@lewisgreen5081 I could have sworn that was him at 2:49.
@@AdrianColley Nah that ain't Rik.
More funnier then ever now. God save the grovelling bastard.
Precisely.
Immortal, he shall be forever known as.
Jamie, go back to school. Funnier. Not more funnier.
He grovels to the WEF.
Spike's punchline after the event seems even better, writing to Prince Charles as he was then, "I suppose a knighthood is out of the question?"
The love pouring out from everyone in that room for this beautiful man is so heartwarming it echoes down the years. We are blessed to have known him.
With that comment, he makes the audience laugh in hysterics for a full 45 seconds! That is the mark of a true comic genius!
And every line out of his mouth was a brilliant, spontaneous, unscripted rib-tickler! What a wit! What a nut! A knighthood would not be good enough. Lord Spike!!!
What is your name
Jesters can get away with a lot.
He says very few words in the whole thing and it's some of the funniest minutes on TH-cam.
It is exactly that type of comments i hate about youtube. Writing random shit that pops up in your head and trying to pass it along as something clever.
No one will ever come close.
Genius.
I hope your wrong, the thought of no more genuine, honest comic genius is depressing.
People like him will never exist again, no one ever will be as loved or respected. I will never forget this.
I saw spike in a small theatre here in Perth Australia He walked out on stage sat on a chair and had everybody laughing for 2 hours It was unbelievable what a genius of comedy
I can watch this again and again. That nanosecond of shock before they all erupt is priceless. A true genius who died the same day as my dad. I can hear them laughing now.
‘I know people who have been crippled in the wake of my humour’ What a funny funny man , we love ya Spike
The giant, on whose shoulders everybody else stood.
No wonder he died.
@@stumbling He was ill. He did tell us.
We'll said Sir !
@@HappyCynic Brilliant, just brilliant.
Couldn't have put it better myself.An indisputable comic genius
Only Spike could have gotten away with this bless him and he will always be a national treasure that made us all laugh out loud back in the day. He will never ever be forgotten.
Sad but his type of comedy and humour has been consigned to the ‘warning this may cause offence to some listeners’ or ‘this episode was recorded in 1968 when guidelines were different and so may contain language that some listeners or viewers may find offensive’.
Woke o’clock for modern comedy or die at the hands of the mental left, or the nazi right. You can’t win ☺️
Got away with what?
@@billblog5386 exactly, spoke the truth.
Yes because President Boris Johnson or President Liz Truss would be so much better than the Royals...
@@beaufighter245Spike and Charles were friends!
Ahhhh, I miss you Spike! Absolute legend, my sides are still hurting years later! Only Spike could call a future king a grovelling bastard and bring the house down!🤣🤣🤣
The master, could watch this every day
@@twmlloyd5257 Actual King now. 🤣
@@paulnewshamAnd still a groveling bastard ask Klaus his WEF mate.
I love how just as everybody is starting to get over it they realize how funny it was again and go back into hysterics. It's an impossible level of comedy. It's transcendental.
There was only one SPIKE MILLIGAN. Total love.
Spike Milligan was one of comedies masters who knew how to say things with no fears, we need people like him back in our lives!
I've got tears literally running down my face through laughing.. Thank you Spike and God rest your beautiful soul x
I'm here...
Imagine being able to make a room full of comedians erupt into laughter with just four words. Genius.
I remember watching this live. It was one of the funniest things I'd ever seen and still is. Spike Milligan was the funniest person who ever lived and nobody will ever come close to him.
@welcome welcome What a horrible thing to say.
@welcome welcome talking out your ring
@@Wahey Yes. A simple matter of poison character. But, ah well, people like that do help us appreciate those whom we like and love.
@welcome welcome you're one sick puppy. Bitch if you're lucky to be around at mid life I bet comedy will be outright banned as will all free thought and speech. Or else it'll be a bunch of sour cancel culture bastards like you that got hurt feelings.
@welcome welcome One of the saddest and most pathetic comments I've ever read on TH-cam. Shame on you.
People throw the word iconic around a lot but not only was Spike an absolute comedy icon, the true genius of modern comedy, but calling the heir to the throne 'that little grovelling bastard' has to be the most iconic roast moment of all time. The sheer audacity is what cracked a room full of his peers up.
See that people? A GENUINE standing ovation! :-)
factnotfictionpeople did he get through to the semi finals of X factor? That's what it takes these days
"WOT! No laugh track?!?!?!"
Classic stuff ;)
factnotfictionpeople a thing of the past
factnotfictionpeople fackinh legend
The funniest person that ever lived in my opinion. An absolute comedy genius
Great comment and the trolling speek police can crawl back up the anus they crept out of.Correct that
Spike Milligan,mad as a bag of frogs but an absolute legend.
He wasn't mad, a depressed man maybe, but not mad... intelligent definitely!
@@susansherlock7474 mad as in Zany 😁
@@susansherlock7474 Possibly PTSD from WW2.......So funny but so poignant and sad too if you've read them.
Madder.
Yes, But he left great memories for his children, He was a great father.
This will never, ever be topped at an awards ceremony. Unbelievable timing and delivery from a truly great man.
errr Julian Clary & Ricky Gervais . I would beg to differ . However , this is bloody hilarious nonetheless
Cracks me up every time I watch it..Pure comedy Genius..😂
a standing ovation for a truly great comic genius.
Generally comics get less funny, Spike never lost it.
T0mat0S0up couldn't agree more
T0mat0S0up I can see a Tommy Cooper trick coming on ....OK HERE WE GO! SPIKE ...BOX...BOX...SPIKE.
neil phillips
Laughter and great affection.
Written on spikes gravestone "I told you I was ill" Brilliant!
5 words and he had the entire room in tears of laughter. That's a rare gift he had.
Never afraid to speak his mind, his comedy genius could never be shackled.
Also, by this time, he was so old he was untouchable. He could say what he liked about Prince Charles; what could the establishment do? Nothing.
This is true, but he had Prince Charles, God Bless Him, laughing in the aisles! The Prince was convulsing with laughter! What else could he do? The Prince was a true gentleman, and he played the game!
Zero shits given. What a legend :)
I don’t think this will ever get old
indeed... have seen this many times...not for a year or two now and im wiping away tears of laughter as i type ... fucking outstanding !
we all have to go sometime, spike went a little too soon but even his epitaph is a giggle :)
'Grovelling bastard...' Right there is the old relationship of the court jester battering the king over the head with his pig's bladder; remember, thou art only mortal.... Everyone who wields power in this day and age should have their own jester at their elbow to keep them humble!
Great comment.
we shouldn't have any so-called royalty
@@mizofan .I would substitute pigs bladder for lump hammer
Too deep for this lad on a Friday evening but I get the gist...
Yep a great post. So true.
Spike Milligan sent a message to the Prince Of Wales afterwards going "I suppose a Knighthoods out of the question then?"
EDIT: Typed on 11.09.2022 and now The Little Grovelling Bastard is now King Charles III. Lol.
I heard about that, and for a while I was afraid that the Prince would die of laughter before Spike did. Fortunately, he did not, but it was probably a close call...
David Barron i just read that now in hos obituary
I crossed the Spike Milligan Bridge in Woy Woy, NewSouth Wales on my bike a few weeks ago. Woy Woy's most famous son described Woy Woy as the only place where they bury the dead above the ground. They still built him a bridge. How could you not love that man?
@George Job I'VE ALWAYS LIKED YOU--LEND US A TENNER
@@fredferd965 WADDYA MEAN ? IT WOULD 'AVE BEEN A GREAT HAPPENING. I'M AFRAID HE LIVES TO BE KING COLE.
"Im not going to thank anyone coz I did it all on my own"
How Fuckin Comic genius are those words, had me in tears as a teenager during the late 70,s early 80,s
Gone but never forgotten RIP Spike
The comics today don't come close to Spike, even at this age he'd wipe the floor with them.RIP A great man
Watched this time and again and it always reduces me to tears of laughter.. Spike was truly a natural genius and desperately funny .. RIP Spike .. you left this world a happier place 😅
Could watch this a thousand times and would still be hilarious. RIP Spike - what a legend!
Spike said afterwards that by that time of the evening he had finished two bottles of wine as, having not worked on TV in ten years, he wasn't expecting anything more than a night out and a free meal.
The greatest acceptance speech of all time 😅
His humour knew no boundaries whatsoever, and we loved him for it
Meeting Spike at a book signing in Dublin many years ago was such a privilege. He shook my hand.
What a lovely memory Wayne, thanks for sharing.
Possibly the funniest thing ever said in an awards acceptance speech??
+yellowbucket Possibly the dumbest comment ever.
+Jane Goodnut No. You win that award.
floyd pitt No. You do.
no doubt
Jane Goodnut are you stupid? No, seriously, are. you. stupid?
A beautiful person who probably never made an enemy in his entire life.
Spike asked Charles for a knighthood. The reply back from Clarence House, was "Keep Grovelling".
Never has anyone so succinctly demonstrated why they deserve a lifetime achievement award.
Comedy Genius was our Spike , A sandwich short of a picnic of course but that was his uniqueness
40 seconds of uncontrollable laughter by everyone and every single time I watch this, it has the same effect. Just 1 simple line did that. True master at work.
I have to watch his works. So many great great comics that I love admire this guy. Robin Williams, Craig Ferguson, The entire Monty Pythons, Dylan Moran, Sean Lock and many many more all loves Spike and credits him as a major influence in their comedy.
Most of modern comedy wouldn’t exist without this mad genius.
All these YT clips of the legend are timeless. Bollocks to the PC brigade. If we can't laugh at ourselves then we might as well be American.
A K It was Ben Elton and his ilk that STARTED the PC brigade rot.
@@stuartjenkins3039 I lived 18yrs in the US. My American wife and my US-born English daughter have been back here for 17yrs. I/we agree with both you and AK.
Um, what the hell makes you think "the PC brigade" objects to somebody insulting a royal? It would be the unPC brigade much more likely to object.
Aw, I think I've upset someone. Poor baby.
@@AK-ru3sg No, I just think you said something *really* dumb.
Spike was a true superstar of British comedy. Rest in peace Spike you awesome person!
A comedian who can make a room full of comedians laugh is several cuts above.
The audience shots - so much comedy genius standing and giving him love !
I don't see Paul Merton in the crowd, but I hope he was there. In the 90s, he was working hard to be the next Spike Milligan.
That roar of laughter is just stunning.
I have to be for ever thankfull to Spike Milligan for putting my home town on the map of world literature. In his war memories, he mentions the place: "Krumpendorf, that famous disease of the groins..."
Comedic genius. Razor sharp whit.
Brilliantly funny. " ...these are a series of cliches you know?"
It´s hard to catch because of the laughter but it just might have been ".......these are a series of cliches, you idiot." If I´m wrong, I stand corrected. In any case, pure genius. Thank you!
Wit, not whit.
On this day September 8th, 2022, of all days, I get this as a TH-cam suggestion ❤ Long live King Charles III, "The Grovelling Little Bastard"
It doesn't matter how many times I see this clip, it never gets any less funny!Miss you Spike!
I long to go back to the sea again.
To that wonderful sea in the sky.
I left my vest and socks there.
I wonder if they're dry.
There are holes in the sky where the rain comes in, but the holes are very small that's why rain is thin.
I thought I saw jesus sitting on a tram
I said are you jesus?
He said Yes!
I am.
Said my happily splashing daughter
"My legs are getting shorter"
She must be dim to want to swim
In shark infested water.
Anthony Scaife pret a porter
Said Hamlet to Ophelia,
"I'll draw a sketch of thee.
What type of pencil should I use...
2B or not 2B?"
Spike virtually raised me in my childhood even though we only met once when I was 18 in 1983.
He signed my copy of "Unspun Socks from a Chicken's Laundry" and I wouldn't part with it for the world!
What Make this Even More Funny is that, the Following day, He Called Prince Charles and Said "I Take it a Knighthood is out of the quetion" to which Prince Charles replied "Your going to have to do a Little more Groveling"
Even though 8 years ago.. im still so glad you put this comment on.. legend. 👍👍
🤣
Brilliant 😂🤣😂
If that story is true, Prince Charles is funny as fuck. I have my doubts...
@@lingonberriesofwrath1836 it was true as the comments were banter between the two
I once met Spike in the toilet of a London restaurant. I'd spotted him earlier at another table. It was in the middle of a heatwave. He came in as I was minding my own business, looked at me and said "I'm not coming to this bloody restaurant again. Too damned hot!"
OK. Not funny in itself, but to hear him deliver it in the way only he could made it hilarious. If I hadn't already been mid-pee, I would have pissed myself.
It is funny in itself. A brilliant ironic joke, typical of Spike. Thanks for sharing
Only people like Spike could make such a mundane sentence hilarious. And there’s not many people like Spike.
This has to be one of the greatest moments at an award show, and still his brand of humour could reduce an audience to hysterical laughter, is an example of how much a comical genius Spike Milligan was, to cut in with such a bold retort as this towards the future King of England would make me laugh any time i see it, You were an absolute legend Spike, R.I.P to a great man
The follow up to this is the following day Spike wrote to Prince Charles, all his letter said was "I supose a knighthoods out of the question now?" Charles wrote back simply saying "Keep Groveling"
The reason this works so perfectly is because we know that if the Prince of Wales were there in person, he would be laughing the loudest, and even possibly coming back with a sharp riposte. Spike picked his targets rather than simply spray bile in all directions, which is only part of why he is such a great loss to us all.
A sharp riposte? From Prince Charles? Cough*
No, that was an observation. Did I upset the poor little royalist?
It is hard to imagine how much society has changed from that before the Wars;
calling the monarch a "grovelling bastard" still cuts against the grain, we still have a respect for our 'betters', however grudgingly, we feel we should grovel to them in some way.
But now we laugh at that sense of discomfort as much as at the joke;
a joke which only one of Shakespeare's court jesters could have got away with before.
Alas, poor Yorick
David McCormick "But wit is sword; it is meant to make people feel the point as well as see it." [G.K.Chesterton]
Parisian tunnel? Ouch! The spirit of Milligan lives.
M.COrmaCK.Fuck off yourself.
One of comedy's classic moments, I love the way Spike enjoys his own jokes and isn't shy in showing it, his shoulders shaking make it even funnier
Spike had that room ROARING with laughter...Much loved, greatly missed.
What a legend. Growing up in the 1970’s I loved to watch him on TV and read his books which were hysterical.
Saw him do a one-man show at St David's Hall in Cardiff a few years ago, sat on the side above he came out. For some reason the sound was crap and afterwards they were giving refunds. I declined. I was just happy to be in the same room as my comic hero. Afterwards he signed some of his books and I got to shake his hand. Have to stop typing know as I'm filling up. Legend.
My first hero: His 'Silly Verse For Kids' enchanted me when I was five years old and I've loved him ever since. Bless you, Spike!
Every time I watch this I have tears of laughter genuinely coming from my eyes! Just a genius, the Prince Charles line is priceless 😆
Good grief we would benefit immensely if Spike was still doing his thing today.
No we wouldn't. He would be cancelled.
The same could be said of Bill Hicks. Spike was a comic genius and a true humanitarian.
P E A C E : )
"Oh the little groveling bastard" the 5 funniest words ever said. 😅
His timing when he said that was absolutely perfect.
Man when English comedy ruled they were the funniest of times and im an Aussie who can't get enough of this comedy great, and see what a awesome standing ovation given out of respect.
One of the funniest men of all time. Still laughing out loud in 2019.
2021 here, still laughing our asses off :-)
Genius and legend are overused in today's society. Here ladies and gentleman is a TRUE genius and legend.
I'm only 26, but over the years i have watched a lot of Spikes tv stuff and even listened to the goon show with my grandfather (who is a huge Spike fan)while we were driving somewhere and it's some of the funniest stuff i have seen and heard in my life. We will never get comedy of that calibre ever again. Old comedy is the best comedy.
That's because it doesn't rely on profanity and cheap outrage.
@@sgtpluck8344 What about Derek and Clive?
@@acmarston A bloke came up to me the other day and said… “Hello”
@@FUNKINETIK Provocative f#%$#@.
@@FUNKINETIK Get this in the bollocks for a start!!
The man, the myth, the legend - Spike Milligan. The funniest bit of all about that comment is that Spike and the Prince of Wales were very close friends for many years. Often imitated, but never, ever duplicated. 2:40 LOL
Spike is the master. Way ahead of his time. No one to match him.
2019 and still makes me laugh 😂
Me too, as does the Morecambe & Wise sketch with Andre “Preview” 😂
2022, still laughing!
@@francishall1803 can confirm
2023 here and God knows I need a laugh.
The likes of which we’ll never see again - thank God, the wishy-washy PC brigade weren’t that prevalent during the 60’s & 70s - the man is an absolute lifetime legend - RIP Spike x
One of the very few genuine comedy geniuses the world has ever produced. Spike was the originator, the master of the absurd, the word Genius is not sufficient to honour his Brilliance, or to do him justice.
As someone who is half-Irish and half-English, and considers himself both,I am glad that an Irishman makes you proud to be British. Milligan did refuse to swear an oath of allegience to the crown.
I remember seeing this on TV and it had me crying with laughter. Awwwwwww Spike we miss you!! Respect to a lovely man.
Spike became the first person since Beau Brummel to voice such spontaneous discourtesy to a member of the Royal Family.
As with anyone with individual flair and talent, Spike was not spurned by anyone with appreciation for his amazing gifts.
Utter genius, my favourite comedian ever, all the trauma he saw & suffered himself, more often than not made his humour even more astounding, dogged by serious bouts of dark depression, locking himself away in his room for weeks at a time, I think his headstone says "I told you I was ill", he really was a complete one off, never see the likes of him again
I love that Milligan is laughing at it too. Can you imagine if he'd just listened to it? How pompous everything would have been. It would have been a betrayal of everything he'd ever done. That line is exactly what Spike Milligan would say in that situation, and he did.
Standing ovation, there is the respect Spike deserves..